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See What's "Up"Sat, 26 Apr 2014 02:42:41 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3George Washington Bridge Bus Station Is Finally Being Renovatedhttp://northattan.com/2013/10/28/george-washington-bridge-bus-station-terminal-is-finally-being-renovated/
http://northattan.com/2013/10/28/george-washington-bridge-bus-station-terminal-is-finally-being-renovated/#commentsMon, 28 Oct 2013 18:38:15 +0000http://northattan.com/?p=6879The George Washington Bridge Bus Station terminal at 178th & Broadway is finally set to start construction, five years and several missed deadlines later than expected.

Commuters formed a line next to the 171 bus heading to the Paterson Broadway Bus terminal in Paterson, New Jersey. Photo by Claire Pires / Northattan.

“I think it’s good, if they do it,” said bus operator Charles DeLoach, reflecting the mix of welcome skepticism many feel about the latest construction announcement from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” said DeLoach.

The long-anticipated project will replace a terminal opened in 1963 in Washington Heights, which for half a century has connected New York City to nearby New Jersey destinations such as Paterson, Passaic, Englewood, Fort Lee, and Jersey City. Terminal users also can make subway and bus connections to New York City airports.

Though it’s not the city’s biggest bus terminal (that’s the Port Authority terminal at 8th Avenue & 42nd Street, which serves about 65 million people a year), the George Washington Bridge station hosted some 4.7 million passengers in 2012, said Christopher Valens, a spokesman for the port authority.

One of those travelers is Bronx resident, Angel Barrales, who uses the terminal every day to get to his job at a Vietnamese restaurant in New Jersey.

“This is the only way I know to get to New Jersey,” said Barrales. “I think it could look better.”

Renovation plans first discussed in 2008 were stalled initially by economic downturn, then by a change in developers and contractors, said Valens. In anticipation of one scheduled start date, storeowners were kicked out of the terminal in 2011. Two years later, passengers are frustrated that’s there’s still no place in the terminal to buy even a cup of morning coffee. Every abandoned store has a sign that says “This branch is closed.”

A few commuters waited at Platform 22 for a bus to New Jersey. Photo by Claire Pires / Northattan.

Before, “if you were hungry, you could buy a soda, sandwich, now you can’t buy anything. I’d say it’s inconvenient,” said Monserrate Perez. “I don’t care what they put, as long as it’s food!”

The new $183 million project will have more than just food. Marshall’s, Blink Gym, Fine Fare Supermarkets, and Gateway News have already signed leases, said Valens. The terminal will have 120,000 square feet of retail space – four times the space in the existing facility.

Until the new terminal is up and running, though, the old one is a sadly dilapidated space. Besides the empty stores, there are crinkled cigarette butts on the floor, trash in the corners, and a bleak yellow light shining opaquely on the quiet travelers.

Homeless men line the front door of the terminal outside. Former Washington Heights resident, Edward Albert, who came to visit Fort Tryon Park, calls the atmosphere “a little gloomy, sketchy, and scary.” Albert looks forward to the new terminal and its new shopping possibilities. “If there were more shops, there would be more cheerful people,” he said.

Valens said the construction has already begun, but on a recent visit, there weren’t any construction workers anywhere and the abandoned stores and decrepit ceilings were still untouched. The new terminal will “consolidate all bus operations in a rooftop bus concourse with a modern climate-controlled waiting area,” Valens said in an email. Escalators and elevators will bring people from street and subway levels up to the buses, and arrival and departure information will be shown on modernized communications systems.

All of the stores inside of the bus station are closed now, but stores such as Marshalls, Blink Gym, Fire Fare Supermarkets, and Gateway News have signed leases. Photo by Claire Pires / Northattan.

All bus traffic in the new terminal will operate above street level, “a big plus for traffic and traffic congestion,” said Ebenezer Smith, district manager for Community Board 12, which covers Washington Heights and Inwood.

Most residents in the neighborhood don’t seem to mind that there will be construction.

The port authority said construction began in October, but several areas of the terminal still look untouched. Photo by Claire Pires / Northattan.

“If they’re gonna put in new stores, they have to clean it up first,” said commuter Elan Bosworth.

The project will also create more than 330 construction jobs and more than 700 permanent jobs in the community, said Valens.

But there are still plenty of skeptics.

“‘Cause it’s city government, they don’t do what they say they’ll do,” said Bronx resident Forhad Akbar, who works across the street from the terminal.

Valens said the construction is expected to be completed in early 2015.

“It will increase pedestrian traffic and bring some vitality into the terminal,” said former Washington Heights resident, Edward Albert.

The people at Labor Day Sunday morning Mass at the Salvation Army Harlem Temple Corps come in various types. Some are in their Sunday best, but across the pew, Sunday best is the best they have, and seem somewhat disheveled. It being a holiday weekend, many congregants were missing. Usually the crowd is larger and even more diverse — just like the community of Harlem.

It was not always like this. Before the new pastors stepped in three years ago, the congregation numbered around 70. Now, it has nearly doubled due to increased outreach to Harlem’s ever-changing community and the increasing Latino population in Washington Heights.

Husband and wife team Major Raphael Jackson and Major Sandra Jackson are the main pastors at the Temple Corps. Envoy Kenneth Burton, assistant pastor at the corps, says their uncanny ability to connect with the community has been a main factor in congregation growth.

Major Raphael Jackson’s connection with the community is apparent even after only spending a little time with him. He walks in between the tables of the soup kitchen greeting attendees by name. He jokes with regular visitor Ignacio Osario, playfully calling him “Nacho”.

Burton says that Major Sandra Jackson makes an effort to learn all the names of the people who go to the mission. As a result, everyone at the corps knows her and respects her.

Marcia Larson, a member of both National and New York Salvation Army Advisory Boards, says that Harlem Temple Corps’s congregation is more multicultural than other posts in New York City. The congregation includes people of African descent, Caribbeans, Caucasians and Hispanics. The Hispanic membership has grown the most — the congregation is now 20 percent Latino.

To appeal to as many people as possible, the Temple Corps has used sidewalk church services, outreach events, communication with food program attendees about available church services, the creation of the Phil Ramone Orchestra for Children and consistent outreach to families in nearby Harlem shelters.

This programming introduces people to services at the church, which in turn builds the congregation. Burton recalls a young student in the orchestra who actually in the Salvation Army as a junior soldier.

Talking to people through the survival-based programs has proven particularly effective, says Catherine Lowe, the director of social ministry. Since the Jacksons arrived, she says, “we’ve had a lot of people from the soup kitchen.”

Kishon Plummer started coming to Mass after finding out about it at the soup kitchen. At the beginning of every lunch, a volunteer says a prayer and encourages soup kitchen goers to come to Sunday Mass.

Igancio Osario encouraged Plummer and others to come to Mass because he feels so strongly about the service and the Temple Corps. He grew up going to Salvation Army churches, but has been going to the Harlem Corps Masses for four years and the soup kitchen for three. “God is here,” he says.

Lowe says the survival-based programs are aimed at families in shelters—especially victims of domestic violence and families waiting for benefit checks. Some of the programs Salvation Army provides poor families are the food pantry program, free after-school programs, a school supply program, parenting groups and rent assistance.

The food pantry at the Harlem Temple Corps feeds 200 people a month. Photo by Lara McCaffrey / Northattan.

The corps also offers music classes, dance classes, a women’s club, a men’s club, exercise classes, open gym and of course church services. The building, located on 540 Lenox Avenue between 137th and 138th Street, can also be rented out for non-alcoholic parties. These help the corps attract the better-off as well as the neediest.

Harlem Temple Corps also tries to make the Sunday service appeal to new people who attend their programs but have not yet joined the congregation. “I should come and feel a link in the meeting,” says Jackson. During the two-hour service, pastors will play traditional hymns for the old congregation but will also play “praise and worship” and other non-traditional music for new members.

The combination of the programs, the outreach and the attention paid by the Jacksons and Burton are among the attractions for new congregation members. “They really care about them as people,” says Larson. “That’s something you really can’t buy from a social service worker.”

With only a couple of uptown bookstores specializing in books on black studies, readers have limited venues for exploring black history and identity. Every other day, poet Jonathan Familia visits Sister’s Uptown Bookstore, one of these few bookstores. He says Sister’s is a soul searching space. “Places like this present a question: Who are you?” Familia says.

In an attempt to fill this void, two New York professors have curated a series of talks about black studies with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Studies in Harlem. This “adult education series” showcases new work from scholars, provides a space to exchange ideas on black studies and exposes readers to hard-to-find books.

Held on the first Thursday evening of every month, the Conversations in Black Freedom Studies series brings in a panel of two to four authors who speak for 15 minutes each, then field audience questions for an hour.

The discussions focus on books old and new and bring in specialists on the book’s subject to discuss it. The Oct. 3 conversation, for example, was inspired by a 1963 book, “Blues People: Negro Music in White America” by Amiri Baraka. John Szwed, a Harvard professor of jazz and director of jazz studies at Columbia, joined Baraka for a conversation on her book.

“In some sense this dovetails with what we’ve always been about, which is sort of trying to provide different kinds of spaces for new work to get out,” says Jeanne Theoharis, Brooklyn College professor and co-curator of the talks.

Besides writing three books together, including “Groundwork: Local Black Freedom Movements in America,” Theoharis and co-curator Komozi Woodard, a Sarah Lawrence professor, organized international symposiums on black studies in Trinidad and New York.

They said they were prompted to start the Schomburg series by events that told them there was a need for places to discuss black studies.

One was a Sunday morning book party in 2010 for Hasan Jeffries at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corps. “We had gone for a half an hour, maybe about 40 church women came into the room and said to us ‘How dare you start this before we got out of church!’” Woodward says. They then bought two boxes of “Bloody Lowndes,” which told the story of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, an inspiration of the Black Panther Party.

Another was the closing last year of Hue-Man Bookstore and Café,’ a 10-year-old bookstore in Harlem known for its inventory of books by black authors. “In some ways we’re reacting to that,” says Theoharis. Although Hue-Man still sells books online, its closing left only Schomburg’s bookstore and Sister’s Uptown bookstore as places where black studies books were readily available in Northattan.

A former Hue-Man employee, Mike Bannerman, now works at the 12-year-old Sister’s Uptown Bookstore in Washington Heights. It isn’t as busy as Hue-Man was, but is still a gathering place, says Bannerman.

Public libraries in Harlem that offer similar books aren’t the same gathering places as Sister’s, he says. “Like say here, people come in and do that and just kind of sit around and exchange ideas,” says Bannerman. “It’s a gathering place. It has social benefits where people can connect.”

Exchanging ideas is exactly what Conversations in Black Freedom Studies strives for. Woodard feels allowing questions from the audience is very important. “The community might ask how does this relates to this problem I am having in my school in Brooklyn or something like that, and we try to field those kinds of questions,” says Woodard.

Scholars specializing in black studies can present their new findings and converse with the community. “On one hand the community doesn’t have direct access to it, but even fellow scholars in the same field may not be privy to it,” says Woodard.

In a December session, Devorah Heitner, author of “Black Power TV,” will feature clips of ’60s public affairs shows on black issues, from Harvard University archives.

Each session continues to have a good turnout, making the curators realize how important these talks are to some. “We started to realize that, it wasn’t just an idea in our heads. People in the community really wanted this history,” says Woodard. “They’re starving for it and we had to develop a venue to bring it here.”

This article has been updated to correct the location of the clips of ’60s public affairs shows on black issues. They are at the Black Journal Collection at Yale University, not Harvard University.

Inwood residents mobbed the Dichter pharmacy in June, helping the store move to a larger location. Photo courtesy of the Uptown Community Church.

There’s a flurry of movement in an Inwood pharmacy. Fathers, mothers and children are packed wall-to-wall in a store. There’s no music; it’s not a flash mob. Instead of dancing, people’s hands pick up items. Instead of music, there’s the sound of a cash register ringing.

What’s causing the commotion? The pharmacy has been hit by a cash mob. The assailants? Members of a church group and local residents looking to help out a business in need.

The cash mobs, which have been held by groups around the world, have one goal in mind: to benefit local businesses by providing a surge of dollars and customers in the span of a few hours.

The group, a community outreach project from the Uptown Community Church that meets at Mother Cabrini High School at 701 Washington Ave., has performed seven cash mobs since first starting the project last year.

Their next destination, in October, is a green-cleaning company, All About Green, on Sherman Avenue, according to Valerie Valentine, who has helped to organize the cash mobs.

The Rev. Reyne Cabinte from the church proposed the idea last year, and things caught on from there. “The other goal was to help infuse cash and show support for the local businesses,” said Valentine.

Depending on the venue’s size, Valentine said that anywhere from 30 to 100 people show up for the cash mobs, which take place every other month. “We let the businesses know we’re here, we love you and we want you to be around for a long time,” she said. Valentine explained that families attend the events with children. Local residents from near the church or other Northern Manhattan neighborhoods are welcome to mob the stores, too

Businesses are selected based on need. “We’ve been looking at businesses that may have been struggling with the economic downturn,” Valentine said. They could use the money, and once a store has been hit by a cash mob, it “lets people know you’re there.”

In the past, the group has mobbed a pharmacy store, a florist and a diner, among others, raising anywhere from $800 to $2,500 in goods purchased, according to Valentine.

Not all businesses are fit for cash mobbing, though. When a lingerie store approached the group as a possible destination, the group declined, because of the family nature of the efforts. “I think one of the things I like about is it’s something people do as a family,” said Samantha Aezen, who attended a couple of the mobs and runs a weekly bible study group for the church.

Parents also use the cash mobs as an opportunity to teach their children about spending money, said Aezen. “They explain to the kids that were old enough, ‘You’re going to buy something and this is what we’re doing and why.’ That’s really cool for what it’s worth because Washington Heights is a family neighborhood,” she said.

In terms of post-mob success, the Dichter Pharmacy, the first destination in Northern Manhattan, expanded to a larger space after the influx of business from the cash mob. The store was decimated by a fire, prompt its move to a smaller space. With that knowledge, the group targeted the store. Afterwards, the pharmacy expanded to a larger venue to include an ice cream parlor. The restaurant Beans and Vines on Broadway also moved to a bigger location after being mobbed.

Aezen and Valentine said that the cash mobs yield return visits from people who hadn’t patronized that business previously. “We don’t just go one time; a lot of us go back. I go to these businesses, which I wouldn’t have normally done. I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, cash mob,” said Aezen.

But as the name suggests, sometimes things don’t end up completely rosy when a mob storms into a shop, robbing it of space and prompting long lines, especially for nonparticipating patrons. During the Dichter Pharmacy raid on June 23, people already at the store, including the owner, were shocked. “We completely filled the space wall-to-wall with people, with others waiting outside,” said Randy Gallegos, a member of the church. “The neighbors who just happened to be there were a little taken aback.”

Originally started in Cleveland, Ohio by Andrew Samtoy, a lawyer, cash mobs have since spread form the United States to at least 10 other countries, according to cash-mobs.com.

Samtoy was surprised that a church was running cash mobs in Manhattan. He said that, typically, a group of people will cook up a cash mob more on a whim, as opposed to a religious organization. “A lot of times an individual might do a few and be happy with it but then they get busy or there are other things that come up in their lives,” said Samtoy, who also runs the cash-mobs.com website. For more information about other mobs being run in New York City, there’s a New York City cash mob Facebook page, Cash Mob – NYC, and Twitter, @cashmobnyc. Both social media accounts, however, haven’t been updated in about a year.

“Maybe it’s something we should push into churches so it doesn’t just fade away. Churches would be a natural place for people to go and organize like this,” he said.

For Valentine, a lifelong resident of Inwood, the cash mobs promote the group’s community outreach agenda to “renew” Northern Manhattan. “It’s about loving your neighbor and living that part of the gospel out,” she said. “It’s so nice to give somebody something and to not expect anything back for it and that it could be a life change for them.”

The Little Free Library allows Hudson Heights residents the chance to take a book while strolling through Bennett Park. Photo by Benjamin Snyder / Northattan.

On a crisp, October day, a girl stands nearly on tiptoes to lean over the metal fence in front of the library, near Pinehurst and 183rd Street. She opens the wooden door to reveal the literary treats packed full inside. In fact, the contents overflow into a paper Banana Republic shopping bag hanging beneath its wooden post.

A woman, among the many who rush past without a glance, is hooked for the next few minutes. She rummages through the library’s contents and picks out a book with floppy, plush dog-ears sticking out of its pages. She hands it to a child in a stroller; he giggles.

Minutes later, the two leave with at least a couple books tucked away.

For Hudson Heights residents, the Little Free Library offers an option to get books in a place where there are few.

Carol Bergman, who teaches writing at New York University and lives in the neighborhood, says the library fills a void. “It’s not a nice feeling if you’re a reader not to have access to books,” she said. “This fills a little bit of the gap anyway.”

Bergman believes the structure has a character of its own. “Sometimes libraries can be pretentious and forbidding, but this is just kind of whimsical,” she said.

Started by neighbors who just wanted to read, the library’s peripatetic collection depends entirely on what gets dropped off and what gets picked up. There’s no reserving titles here; it’s strictly serendipity.

Alana Murphy, a frequent visitor, didn’t leave empty-handed this time. “I just got a copy of “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” which I’ve always wanted to read. It’s kind of like I ask and you shall receive from the free library,” she said.

Murphy feels guilty about not donating yet, although she plans to change that soon. “I’m deciding which ones I want to let go, actually,” she said. “I feel bad because I’ve taken quite a few. And I feel like it’s kind of time to give back.”

Not giving back used to be a common problem for the library’s users, but, now, things even out eventually. “Sometimes it’s totally full; sometimes it’s a little more empty,” said Oshrat Silberbusch, who founded the Bennett Park Little Free Library.

A native of Paris, France, Silberbusch read a New York Times article about the movement to add neighborhood free libraries, and, when she moved to Hudson Heights, decided to start one. “I thought it was so sad,” she said. “There are no books in this neighborhood. There’s a library on Broadway, but it’s a bit of a hike.”

She pitched the idea to a Listserv for parents in the area in September and, five hours later, raised the $300 needed to buy the house from the Little Free Library shop online.

It took months to get through the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation’s red tape. Silberbusch admitted that she was close to giving up on the library’s being installed in a park. “At some point we just sort of lost a little bit hope,” she said.

But then they were approved.

Gareth Hinds, an illustrator and former resident, painted the house, inspired by Bennett Park. “I chose dogs because one of the things I like about our neighborhood is there are tons of dogs and, you know, I kind of featured some of the breeds that I’ve seen walking around the neighborhood,” he said.

Hinds considers the illustration his “legacy” to the community. “It’s a trace of my presence,” he said.

Opened on June 23 in Bennett Park, the Little Free Library is a curiosity to those not familiar with the national movement. The organization, which began in Wisconsin as a nonprofit in 2009, now has 15,000 makeshift libraries in 55 countries around the world.

In the Hudson Heights branch, books range from Pokémon to Goosebumps to Twilight, while languages include French, German and Spanish. “It’s a very diverse neighborhood,” said Silberbusch. “I think the library should reflect, in genres in tastes and languages.”

The Bennett Park Little Free Library isn’t the only place to get free books these days; there’s a copycat. A bookshelf popped up outside the Starbucks a couple of blocks away. “I love that,” she said. “That’s exactly what I was hoping for. I’m hoping that other people will start other libraries.”

]]>http://northattan.com/2013/10/21/little-free-library-fills-hudson-heights-literary-void/feed/0Renaissance or Not, Washington Heights Arts Scene Thriveshttp://northattan.com/2013/10/14/renaissance-or-not-washington-heights-arts-scenethrives/
http://northattan.com/2013/10/14/renaissance-or-not-washington-heights-arts-scenethrives/#commentsMon, 14 Oct 2013 23:13:37 +0000http://northattan.com/?p=6677Lower Manhattan has been an art scene for the last century, but just a few miles across the same island, a neighborhood has lived in artistic anonymity for years. That, scene, in Washington Heights, is the theater of a dispute: Some artists say there is an art renaissance in the neighborhood, while others say that the scene is not there yet.

Carlos Jesus Martinez Dominguez, a graffiti artist, is convinced that Washington Heights is seeing an increase in the public nature of its art. He has displayed his work at El Museo del Barrio and was part of “Caribbean Crossroads of the World” in 2012 at the Queens Museum of Art, which was named “best show of the year” by The New York Times and The Village Voice.

“The renaissance is just a combination of the different exposures that the neighborhood is getting,” he said. “It’s a very slow process. There is more art being put in the public and there are more art-related events going on.”

He said, though, that some artists wouldn’t agree with him, and that the community does not act as one. “It’s not a cozy relationship,” he said. “It’s not that we are looking out for each other. We have a lot of back stabbing and jealousy.” Even so, he said, “We are getting much more attention. A lot of our artists are being represented.”

Martinez said there are disagreements on who are the “good artists” and who is doing “meaningful work.” And not all artists share the same definition of what “the scene” is in Washington Heights.

Tony Peralta, for example, disagrees with Martinez’s optimistic view.

A couple of blocks from the 207th stop of the No. 1 train, in the messy basement of an apartment building, Peralta created his silkscreen laboratory. He tries to define the identity of the neighborhood by creating pop iconic imagery that he applies on T-shirts, caps or canvas. “Renaissance is a very strong word to use,” he said. “You can see that there is no renaissance just by taking a walk in the neighborhood. There is a big difference between walking on the streets in Williamsburg and walking here in Washington Heights.”

Peralta said there is no real rebirth of the art scene. He recalled that in ’80s, when he was a child, there were many writers and he would often see painted walls and trains in Washington Heights. “That’s what’s happening here today,” he said. “More people get too excited and think they are artists. Kids get a spray can and think that’s enough. I have been doing this for five years and only now I feel comfortable calling my self an artist.”

René De los Santos moved to the neighborhood 30 years ago from the Dominican Republic. He is convinced that there is a renaissance in the art scene of the neighborhood. De los Santos is part of a prolific collective of graphic designers and fine artists called Dominican York Proyecto Grafica.

“The neighborhood was very different in the ’90s,” he said. “There were no artists. Now there are spaces where artists can show their work.” His paintings are a complex mix of Catholic and pagan symbolism: He strokes Caribbean warm colors on his canvases. The walls of his apartment on the borders of Washington Heights and Inwood are covered with dozens of his surreal paintings .

Rocio Aranda, curator at Museo del Barrio, said that while there have always been working artists in the Washington Heights area, they never had exposure through galleries and not many people knew about them. Since 2007, the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance has provided artists with space to showcase their work while also promoting and funding local artists and institutions.

“Now, because of NOMAA, people know artists are there,” she said, adding that that El Museo has showcased the work of some of them.

Rider Urena, painter and sculptor, is convinced that a change in the type of businesses in the area is a main reason for the growth of the art scene. “There is definitely a renaissance in the way businesses are changing,” Urena said. “We used to have many mechanics and now there are restaurants and shops and nightclubs. Artists usually work in these places. They create these places, designing and putting art on the walls.” The appearance of “hip” bars and clubs makes it possible for different types of artists to make a living.

Because of the lack of galleries, artists acknowledged that life in the neighborhood is very difficult. Yet NOMAA has tried to make space available for collective and solo shows.

Apt. 78 is one of the bars that support local artists by organizing shows and networking events. Urena and Peralta have been working closely with the owners to decorate the space and get more artists to participate in the creation of an art-friendly space.

Dister, one of Martinez’s closest friends and collaborators and another graffiti artist, keeps his art supplies in a grungy basement on 171st Street. He said that there had been a change in the art scene of Washington Heights, but that local artists needed to get together and work as a collective. The lack of communication among local creative people could cause a waste of talent and it would damage the future of the neighborhood, he said.

“The talent and skills are here, but the fact that we are not working together as a collective is definitely paying a toll in the growing of the renaissance — or even in the existence of it.”

René De Los Santos, 67

Photo by Matteo Lonardi / Northattan.

“Art is flourishing here in Washington Heights even if there is a lack of spaces where artists can learn and grow. Yet at NOMAA, artists found a new foothold.”

De los Santos has lived in Washington Heights for 30 years and is convinced that today the art scene is developing faster and that more artists are moving to the neighborhood. His canvases, which fill the walls of his house, are rich in surreal imagery with voodoo and Santería references. He is also an active participant in the GaGá community, a group that performs pagan-Catholic ceremonies rooted in Dominican culture, and is invested in bringing ancient rituals back into today’s Dominican culture.

Rider Urena, 38

Photo by Matteo Lonardi / Northattan.

“There is definitely a renaissance in the way businesses are changing. We used to have many mechanics and now there are restaurants and shops and nightclubs. Artists usually work in these places they create these places, designing and putting art on the walls. In this way it has been a renaissance.”

He is a leading figure in the local scene. Many artists say that his is the largest studio space in the area. Urena uses the imagery produced by Dominican popular culture and reuses it to produce critical collages that highlight stereotypes of the sexually saturated “Latino” visual culture.

Dister, 37

Photo by Matteo Lonardi / Northattan.

“The talent and skills are here but the fact that we are not working together as a collective is definitely paying a toll in the growing of the renaissance or even in the existence of it.”

He is one of the neighborhood’s well-known graffiti artists. He has worked with El Museo del Barrio and has taught workshops in the Dominican Republic and in Europe. Dister is convinced that art should be valued much more in the Washington Heights community, yet he acknowledges that things are slowly improving and that a renaissance is possible.

Tony Peralta

Photo by Matteo Lonardi / Northattan.

“Renaissance is a very strong word to use. You can see that there is no renaissance just by taking a walk in the neighborhood.
There is a big difference between walking on the streets in Williamsburg and walking here in Washington Heights.”

He tries to define the identity of the neighborhood creating pop iconic imagery that he applies on T-shirts, caps or canvas.

Carlos Jesus Martinez, 34

Photo by Matteo Lonardi / Northattan.

“It’s not a cozy relationship, it’s not that we are looking out for each other, we have a lot of back stabbing and jealousy, but there is a renaissance. We are getting much more attention. A lot of our artists are being represented.”

He came to the neighborhood in 1993 and lives and works in his apartment. He doesn’t like the term “graffiti,” but works as an artist questioning the role of public space in New York City. He uses found signage, boxes and other materials as canvas. Martinez uses art to comprehend his identity as a Dominican in Washington Heights.

]]>http://northattan.com/2013/10/14/renaissance-or-not-washington-heights-arts-scenethrives/feed/0Fashion, Movies and a Local Feel Help Revive United Palacehttp://northattan.com/2013/10/10/fashion-movies-and-a-local-feel-help-revive-united-palace/
http://northattan.com/2013/10/10/fashion-movies-and-a-local-feel-help-revive-united-palace/#commentsThu, 10 Oct 2013 11:00:48 +0000http://northattan.com/?p=6721Hip-hop beats blared and models in hot pants strutted down the historic United Palace last month for the sixth annual Uptown Fashion Week show. The show was just one of many events the Palace is showcasing to bring itself back to life.

“We’re tired of it being hidden,” said Michael Fitelson, executive director of the United Palace of Cultural Arts.

The Palace’s latest effort to revitalize the space was through Uptown Fashion Week, which premiered there on Sept. 12.

“I picked the palace because it is a timeless, elegant venue,” said the founder of Uptown Fashion Week, Albania Rosario. “A lot of people don’t know it’s even there. It’s so significant.”

Uptown Fashion Week, an alternative to the major event at Lincoln Center, featured 12 lesser-known designers, four from Washington Heights, who juxtaposed their urban neon bootie shorts, leopard swimsuits, and mismatched backless dresses with the maroon and mahogany oriental rugs and gold looming arches of the Palace.

“I wanted to give opportunities to designers from this neighborhood and internationally who don’t have access to Lincoln Center,” said Rosario, a Washington Heights native.

Rosario, who began Uptown Fashion Week in 2007, said this show was intended to promote awareness of domestic violence, which she said is an issue in Washington Heights. In past shows, models had painted bruises on them, but Rosario said this show’s theme was a woman’s recovery, which was portrayed in designer Paul Carroll’s line. Carroll’s knee-length dresses radiated with chiffon skirts and form-fitting sleeveless tops sprinkled with rhinestones and geometric shapes.

A local performer opened Uptown Fashion Week with a modern dance before the show began. Photo by Claire Pires / Northattan.

Rosario said Carroll had been a victim of domestic violence and designed “elegant dresses” to “represent that you can go back to life. That’s what he did,” she said.

The clothes were intended for local residents to wear and can be purchased on the Uptown Fashion Week website. Rosario said she wanted locals to come and advertised the event through social media right after her last show in February, which was held at the Triangle Building in Washington Heights.

“It’s for uptown people who don’t go downtown,” said Rosario. “It’s for people who don’t have resources to get to Fashion Week. We are still pulling together fashion shows on the same level.”

Michael Costello of “Project Runway” closed the show with women in mostly black unconventionally fitted dresses with gold matted paint shifting past the gold stair railings as their dresses billowed down the carpet. Each model wore red lipstick, which particularly emanated from the last model, who walked past a sea of snapping iPhones in a carefully fitted white gown where her olive skin peeked out of her floral dress—nothing covering her back and white glittery leaves decorating her body.

“It was amazing,” said audience member Diveli Marte. “Michael’s was … oh!,” she paused as she kissed the air.

Rosario rented the space from the United Palace of Cultural Arts, a sponsor of the event, which collected the ticket revenue. Rosario is now planning another show for plus-size women that she also wants to have in Washington Heights.

A model strutted down the runway at Uptown Fashion Week. Photo by Claire Pires / Northattan.

“I wanted to make an economic impact to businesses up here,” she said. “We have beautiful things up here as well.”

The Palace is hoping to have an impact as well. Originally a movie house that became a church whose membership has dwindled, the Palace is returning to its roots.

The UPCA raised $42,911 for a digital projection system and cleaned the 50-foot-wide movie screen this summer to begin showing movies there after 44 years.

District Manager Ebenezer Smith recently went to a movie at the United Palace and has high hopes for the venue.

“I would like to see movies again, and I wish the church would come back in full bloom,” he said.

The United Palace Cathedral, which shares the space with the UPCA and the United Palace Theater, used to fill the 3,400-seat theater. Now, the services only fill about 150 seats, according to Fitelson, the executive director of the arts group.

Members of the USA Knights demonstrate medieval fighting at the Fort Tryon Medieval Festival. Photo by Esha Mahajan / Northattan.

The Mangler strutted into the arena with a sword in hand, ready to lash out at his rookie opponent. The crowd favorite, he raised his arms in victory even before the fight began.

Spectators hollered and hooted every time The Mangler, the stage name of the amateur knight, struck his opponent’s steel armor. Their loud cheers deafened the clanking of metal as the two fighters sashayed around the arena. “Spank him, spank him harder,” cried a woman, as The Mangler dodged his opponent’s shield to hit him in the chest.

When the 90-second joust ended, The Mangler was victorious.

The fight was a combat exhibition by the USA Knights, who compete in medieval style battles, at the Fort Tryon Medieval Festival on Sept. 29.

“It’s the coolest thing on the planet,” said executive officer Jaye Brooks, who teaches sword fighting for a living. “Warfare was man on man, not handled by politicians long distances away by the push of a button.”

The USA Knights, formed in 2009, presented at the annual medieval festival for the first time this year to recruit more fighters from New York. Just one of the 40-odd members is a New Yorker. In a few months, the knights will compete for spots on the national team, which will enter the medieval battles world championship, Battle of the Nations, next year.

“The swords do it for me,” said Sam Awry, 34, who plans to try out for the team. The long-haired history buff wore a black tunic with basic leather and metal armor he made himself.

The USA Knights use a more elaborate steel armor. Fighters wear a protective coat, and plates made from different types of steel for their back, chest, thighs, shins, and knees. The armor typically weighs 41 to 65 pounds and costs several thousand dollars, said Brooks. Proper protective wear is necessary, he added.

“The steel is not forgiving,” said USA Knight Zorikh Lequidre, who was recently hired as an insurance agent. “You can punch with your fist, kick with your foot, or rustle your opponent into the ground with sophisticated precision.”

Round steel shields, battle axes designed to cut through people’s armor, and swords sat by the sides of team members. A particularly heavy falchion, a one hand single-edged sword sat next to a helmet it dented.

“It’s a full-contact sport and physical fitness is key,” said Lequidre. The USA Knights’ Web site advises hopefuls to get comfortable with intense workout regimes like CrossFit, Insanity, and P90X. Despite their rigorous training, fighters often get injured in the arena. Lequidre strained his knee in the first exhibition of the day when his opponent executed a standing leg sweep and knocked him off base.

As they rested between fights, the knights munched on chocolate chip cookies and pork on sticks. Beads of sweat dripped down the fighters’ flushed faces as they guzzled bottles of water. They stripped out of their armor between exhibitions, some even out of their shirts, and lay next to their weapons under a white canopy.

One by one, they stood up and buckled their protective plates for the next exhibition of the day, a combination of single combats and melees.

The Mangler watched with the crowd as the next set of fighters entered the arena.

“This is real; this is intense,” said Maria Dedvujak, Lequidre’s girlfriend.

YouTube video, shot by one of the motorcyclists, showed part of the incident. Brunna Souza,

State Sen. Adriano Espaillat and Assembly Member Gabriela Rosa on Thursday asked the public to submit more footage of the recent case of road rage between a group of motorcyclists and a family in an SUV in Northattan, so that more motorcyclists in the group could be identified.

At a news conference at Mamajuana Cafe in Inwood, they also called for stricter laws against road rage and limitations on how many motorcyclists in a group can be on a road at one time.

The incident, which was filmed by one of the motorcyclists, began when the SUV of the Lien family, who were celebrating their anniversary on Sunday, was surrounded by members of the “Hollywood Stuntz” motorcycle group on the Henry Hudson Parkway. The driver, Alexian Lien, saying he feared for his life, ran over some of the bikers to get out of the pack and was later pulled out of his car and beaten. Both Lien and one of the bikers were injured; the biker, Edwin Mieses, was said to be paralyzed.

Espaillat said the scene was so violent that one bystander, who tried to save Lien, “thought the guy was dead.” He said that without the help of the bystanders, the incident could have turned into “not only an attack against the driver by also potentially an attempt to get to the wife.”

After showing raw footage of the motorcycle group the morning of the attack, Espaillat asked the community to come forward with any more videos they may have of the group, which he described as “unruly” and participating in “despicable behavior.”

The senator stressed that whoever came forward with footage would be kept anonymous, and urged anyone with information to contact him directly at (212) 544-0173.

Espaillat, whose district includes the area where the incident occurred, said that lawmakers must take action. “We must develop common sense solutions to these problems.”

Reporters at the conference pointed out that similar motorcycle groups have been in the area for years.

In response, Espaillat said, “Every once in a while there’s a new trend that becomes unsafe and this is one.”

The more disruptive trend, which ranges from “motorcycles speeding down the sidewalk” to “500 motorcycles that block and stop traffic,” is not only impacting drivers and pedestrians but the whole community, said Rosa, whose district includes much of Northattan.

“We are outraged,” Rosa said, “We really believe this practice needs to stop. We are a community.” She later added, “As a community we need to coexist.”

Both Espaillat and Rosa said it would take some time to enact new laws, but the senator already has some ideas on his list. One is to “ limit the number of motorcycles permitted by NYPD to go on the highway.”

Although the NYPD has not yet done so, the department has taken initiative in other areas. So far in 2013, the NYPD said, it has seized over 1,400 motorcycles, quad and dirt bikes and made 437 arrests, 187 of which were for reckless endangerment or reckless driving.

Espaillat also suggested that the new laws “stiffen any penalties for threatening a driver or any other road rage.”

The current punishment for road rage-related crimes range from a fine, to probation, to imprisonment, according to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

“The average motorcyclist is law abiding,” Espaillat said, but when it comes to the group involved in Sunday’s incident they, “disobey all traffic regulations” and “really have a total disregard for pedestrians.”

Both Espaillat and Rosa said they were committed to drafting new legislation without which, Espaillat said, this behavior is “a death waiting to happen.”

]]>http://northattan.com/2013/10/04/northattan-lawmakers-seek-more-video-of-motorcycle-incident-and-tighter-laws/feed/0Washington Heights’ First Hotels Get Mixed Reviewshttp://northattan.com/2013/10/01/washington-heights-first-hotels-get-mixed-reviews/
http://northattan.com/2013/10/01/washington-heights-first-hotels-get-mixed-reviews/#commentsWed, 02 Oct 2013 01:10:16 +0000http://northattan.com/?p=6541Washington Heights is about to get its first two hotels ever, but local residents feel torn about what they will mean for their ever-changing neighborhood.

The hotel at 181st and Amsterdam is expected to open by the end of the year. Photo by Claire Pires / Northattan.

“They’re not gonna get tourists up there,” said Washington Heights resident Gianna Diaz. “It will be a culture shock for them. There’s nothing up there. No good parks. No good anything.”

But John Pappas, whose father owns a flower shop in Washington Heights, thinks hotels are a great idea.

“Residents should be worried about superstores like Gristedes being built here and taking away business from mom and pop stores, but hotels are a different animal,” Pappas said. “They will boost business and employ people.”

The first hotel, the boutique Audubon Hotel, is scheduled to open by the end of the year. The developer of the 52-room eight-story hotel, at 507 W. 181st St., hopes to attract students’ parents and people on business.The hotel’s developer, Peter Skeadas, said the project was privately funded by the partners, and it cost “above a few million.”

“The first clientele is families who are there to visit their loved ones at Columbia Presbyterian, the second is parents of Yeshiva University students, and the third are business-people in the area and Dominican business people for sure,” Skeadas said. “I know business people who stay in New Jersey simply for economic reasons, so they love the idea of staying in Washington Heights.”

Skeadas said the hotel plans to charge $99 to $159 per room, which he said is “not expensive, especially for brand new construction.”

The hotel is not aimed at tourists, who local resident Margie Laffosse doesn’t think would feel comfortable, even at that price.

“I don’t see a cowboy sitting up there, you know?” said Laffosse. “There’s no Ann Taylor up there. I mean, it’s very urban.”

The development will also include a four-story building for medical offices. Skeadas says in the 1950s, a freestanding Carvel ice cream store used to occupy the space, followed by random fast-food establishments.

The second hotel, which Skeadas said was a $22 million project, is just a few blocks away, at 514 W. 168th St.

That hotel just broke ground in July and is expected to be done in December 2014. It will be an 11-story building; the first five floors will be medical offices and the rest will be the hotel, with nine rooms per floor. According to the New York Empowerment Zone Corp., which contributed to the hotel through its Upper Manhattan affiliate, the average daily rate is expected to be about $225, and it is expected to achieve an average occupancy of 84 percent. The developers, Oskar Brecher and Ari Sherizen, intend to create a three-star hotel such as a Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn Express, according to the empowerment zone.

A hotel is being built at 514 W 168th St. Photo by Claire Pires / Northattan.

“Washington Heights should have had a hotel for a long time, but getting financing from a bank is very difficult,” said Hope Knight, chief operating officer for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, which uses public funds and tax incentives to invest in projects in poorer communities.

Knight said the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone provided a $2.2 million loan to the hotel because it would benefit the neighborhood.

“We thought it would create jobs that local residents in the community should be able to access,” she said. “We believe that a hotel is more than necessary for the Washington Heights community given that there’s no place for people to stay north of 125th Street.”

This new hotel is taking over a paved parking lot just down the street from the Columbia University Medical Center, which was used to sending patients’ families to Fort Lee, N.J., or to the McKeen Pavilion next door, which had a limited number of small rooms.

“The project is not affiliated with Columbia, although we look forward to working with this new neighbor,” said Douglas Levy, the chief communications officer for the Columbia University Medical Center. “We expect that some visitors to CUMC will appreciate a closer hotel.”

Ebenezer Smith, the district manager for Washington Heights, echoed Levy when he called the new hotels “wonderful.”

“People come to the hospital, and they don’t have a place to stay,” said Smith. “They will create jobs.”

Local business owners said they were also thrilled for the hotels.

“More people will come in, and it will be better business for me,” said Adrian Kim, the owner of the liquor store Frist K.B.J. Spirits Inc. at 4189 Broadway.

Residents, though, were still skeptical about what hotel guests would do in the area.

“People just hang out outside of their apartments and then go inside,” said Ivelis Esteves, who lives on 183rd and Fort Washington. “There’s not a lot going on around here.”